Before vacation I was searching for a swimsuit which is my version of hell.  Well the most shallow one I've experienced anyway.  I know there's the camp of women who are all "look at my stretch marks in this rad bikini" but that is not me friends.  I have figure flaws and I'd prefer to hide them. People often think I'm being modest when I say I have a belly but I promise I'm not lying. The only reason it's not always obvious is because I dress around it.  While a swim dress might be in my future (sigh) I'm not there yet.  All of these styles are flattering, modest, and pretty.

You know you're aging when you start rationalizing swim dresses.  But hey, it is what it is.  Partly due to modesty (especially since I have 2 impressionable little girls), partly due to figure flaws, my bikini days are over. Disclaimer: If I ever work hard enough to get my abs back (or back-ish) and am lucky enough to be on a tropical vacation with my husband sans kids, then I might break out a high waist number.  But until then I'm exploring all options.  I featured this one over on Tall Snob today and wanted to share the look here.  Check it out! (Sources below).

So remember my swimsuit dilemma I posted about here. And the AH-mazing swimsuit my bff scored for $40 at TJ Maxx that evoked a deep sense of envy?! Well (drum roll please), my patience and persistence paid off just like mama said it would. Guess who scored this beauty for less than $50 on a little thing I like to call eBay?!

8 months later and I still have a little post baby bump.  Why is it that "bump" sounds so cute when you're expecting but sounds hideous when your tiny infant is now 8 months old?!  Whenever I'm tempted to get depressed about my lack of six pack (one of my proudest features considering nothing else about my body was toned even before Genevieve!) I just look at my gorgeous, happy, sweet little baby and think about how I'd gain another 35 pounds any day for some Genevieve love!  Oh and I also remember that I have a picture of myself after a run with a nice sweaty six pack showing.  That's right-- a bit narcissistic but such a shameless picture comes in handy! Anyway, regardless of my boundless love for G and my "proof" picture, shopping for a swimsuit with a belly just isn't quite as fun as shopping for one pre-baby (and really how fun is shopping for a swimsuit EVER?!).  Not to mention the fact that it's now August and all the good suits are gone.  I found a couple of suits that seemed perfect to hide my belly that were out of stock (anyone else get annoyed that the site doesn't remove the photo?!).  Just so that someone else can share in my disappointment here are pictures of them:



How cute is the Target Xhiliration baby doll suit?  Considering how many women consider the stomach their problem area, I don't know why there aren't tons of suits in this flattering silhouette!  And this Marc Jacobs number...don't even get me started.  The adorable ruffles hide everything and doesn't seem "mom-ish" at all!  The price tag is about $300 but my girlfriend (who just had a baby in April and was also looking for some coverage) got one in a different pattern for $40 at TJ Maxx.  I'm sure you can imagine how pleased I was to hear of that amazing deal. I wonder when the bible says "rejoice with those who rejoice" if God meant even when friends find amazing deals that you WISH you were lucky enough to have found! ;)

So those would have been my top choices but here are a couple of tankinis I found that do the trick and were not only in stock but on sale!